El Chalateco Salvadorian

I am very disappointed with the service. The waitress was very rude and lazy. I had to ask her to bring chips and salsa at least 3 times. The last time I asked she said they were already in the back but she would still get it. As if she wanted me to say that I didn’t want them anymore. When we were about to pay she started rushing us. Saying the atm would shut down in 5 minutes. We ate outside and she started putting the chairs up and moving tables to rush us.Rude.

The restaurant although listed as El Chalteco states El Palacio de Sabor on its huge orange awning. This can be confusing for first time.
They take phone orders, but typically the person answering doesn’t speak great English.
Once you get there, it’s small and a little run down. BUT the food is good and the employees are nice.
I only order pupusas. The pupusas are decent sized and very tasty. Not super greasy.
They also make yummy horchata.
Good place for pupusas, since there aren’t too many places in the area, just make sure to bring cash or be prepared to pay the atm fee.

Came in today for some pupusas and had a very bad experience. Our waitress was eating in the cooking area. She was licking her fingers as she was eating. She never once washed her hands before picking our food up to bring it to us. My fiancé confronted her about it and all she could respond was that «she didn’t touch the food» didn’t even deny the fact that she was licking her fingers! That’s just plain gross and unprofessional. Who would want to eat food that could possibly be contaminated with her bodily fluids! Who knows if she even brushed her teeth ugh! This place says it’s closed but it’s not; maybe they changed the name. If only Unilocal would put zero stars that’s what they deserve! This is the location off of N. Capitol.

This was my first time coming here and I ordered the enchiladas plate. It didn’t look satisfying not appealing to me… It kind of just looked like a crazy mess of food that has been slapped on a plate. I honestly didn’t even want to eat it. I ended up heading over to La Costa instead. The workers were nice and everything but that isn’t going to make me come back. Sorry guys! I wanted to like you, but I can’t. I probably won’t be heading back here.

First of all, the tortillas are hand made here.
Second, I’ve lived within a minute (walking) of this place for 4 years. Was too lazy to back my car out of my garage so came here on a whim (thank you mary jane). I’ve came back a few times without mary jane and her magical ability to make anything taste good, and have confirmed that Chalateco and I have much catching up to do.
Don’t come here, so I can continue to phone in my order, lay in bed for another 5 minutes, put some pants on and blissfully walk in to pick up my food.
If you choose to disobey, order the quesadilla gus with chicken. You get 3. The tortillas they use for these are fried up, filled with chicken or potato, cabbage and topped with generously with cojita cheese. That and paired with their avocado-​chunked salsa verde which is now my favorite in SJ, tastes vaguely like a gourmet chalupa from Taco Bell. Goddamn that crunchy shell is so good.
Or however a real chalupa is supposed to taste like, before some Taco Bell made their it with their version. But I love that version too, so imagine how much you’ll like this one.
If you’re feeling extra adventurous, try their huitlacoche quesadillas. Yes, huitlacoche, aka corn smut. Basically some corn on the cob gets fucked by fungus, mutates some or all of the kernels into blue mushroom looking things. Hey, its considered a delicacy. Call it a Mexican truffle if it makes you feel better. It’s damn good. I’ve been on a mission to find some huitlacoche so imagine my shock when I find a restaurant down the street from me serving it. They taste of mushrooms with a bit of the sweetness from the corn.
They’re a bit reluctant with the salsa as it appears freshly made and done with care. I’d do the same thing if some assholes were grabbing that precious stuff and pouring excessive amounts all over their food, so tip well and ask for extra.

The pupusas are perfect. The food is well made and the place is clean and the ppl are friendly.

I’ve gotten take-​out orders from El Chalateco several times. So, it’s high time for a review.
I go here mainly for the cheese & vegetable puposas and the asada tacos, but everything tastes great here as is very inexpensive.
I have never dined inside the restaurant, but it looks clean and the workers are very nice.

Very authentic, they seem like a family. The workers are great and very friendly.
I liked the food a lot. The drinks are very very very yummy.
This is definitely a great place too take a date.
There’s a lot of room for footsies under the table.

My husband and I happened to find this gem because he needed a haircut from the barber shop next door. We were both extremely hungry and there was a really long line at the barber shop. So, we decided to eat at El Chalateco since it was literally next door and the menu advertised on their window showed some promising dishes.
We went in and chose to sit at the bar by their grill and there were a few dishes being cooked already and it smelled really good. We were given the menu right away and we were actually really excited because there were even more selections than what was being advertised on the window. My husband ordered their alambre tacos and I got the chilaquiles. The menu prices range from $ 7-​$ 13 which is very reasonable for what looked like authentic Salvadorian food.
Anyhow to cut this review short, the food we received was extremely delicious! Very tasty with all the right blend of spices and their salsa is not just the kind that will burn your tongue off. It has a decent kick but also very flavorful. We were also offered chips and fresh salsa, on the house, which were also very fresh and delicious. The staff is very accommodating and friendly and service is fast. The food is prepared fresh as you order which really helps with quality. I would definitely recommend this place to all the Unilocalers. Give it a try and enjoy!

Ate here for lunch today. Ordered some wet torta that was ehhhh ok. Environment is rough but the stuff are cool.

Note: Name of store has changed. We weren’t sure if we were at right place, but we double checked the address and decided to give this place a try. So GLAD we did!
**Cash ONLY!**
COME HERE FOR THEIR TACOS and CHEESE and VEGGIE Papusa!!!
Wow, we were greeted with such great service at this hole in the wall taqueria.
Taco:
1) Asada: 3.5÷5
2) Beef rib: ⁵⁄₅ YUM!!! Tasted like there were bacon bits in there!
Papusas – we came here b/​c I was craving for papusas!
1) Cheese and veggie (zucchini): ⁵⁄₅ my favorite papusa on the table
2) Pork and cheese: ³⁄₅ eh, it was too salty
3) Potatoes: 3.5÷5 good if you’re a potatoe
4) Pork and bean: ³⁄₅ eh, it was too salty

Went to this restaurant today and got my stuff to go. I ordered pupusas. They were good but I lost my apatite super quick because when I looked down there was a FLY cooked right into one. PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU EAT! I would have gone personally to complain but I live in Santa cruz and the drive was just too long. Would have given for stars but I just simply can’t. I won’t be eating there again.

Service was good but the food was greasy and the presentation was thumbs down. It seemed as if they were rushing us to order and eat

So yummy, went for the first time with my family this Friday & we ordered a couple of the mix plates, papusas, some tacos el pastor & uhhhh I can’t remember what else because we ordered so much! Lol we took it to go & very nice they threw in a free flan! Very friendly people and were also patient with us while we ordered and asked questions. I will be going back especially since it’s in walking distance to my house, can’t believe we didn’t try this place sooner!

Ordered the Alambre plate with two papusas (beans and cheese and the second one pork)… Sooo good. The menu of this spot still says Chalateco but they changed the name to El Palacio De Sabor. I was pleased with all the dishes! The Alambre plate was something I’ve never had. They were similar to tacos but had a mixture of steak diced up with peppers n cheese topped with al pastor and chorizo, so savory. Pupusas were filling and had great flavor. Cash only and the place is loud since they blast their music. Food came out piping hot. Overall a really good experience. Im totally returning.

I had the pork and yucca fries. A great dish and I recommend the blended juice. The carne Milanesa was divine.

Whole in the wall spot. Their pupusas are good though. Best I’ve found in my neighborhood.
I wasn’t a fan of their platanos they were stiff. I wouldn’t order it again even the beans weren’t right…
I just order pupusas a la carte with extra curtido. there or to go.
Cash only! There is an ATM inside, but the fees are ridiculous.

Came upon this restaurant because it was right next to 7– Eleven, and the bub was hungry for some burritos. It’s really a tight place for a restaurant, but it took awhile to get your order. The bub ordered two meals, and it took about 20 to 30 minutes.
When we tried the burrito and i forget what else he got, but it was really bland. Overall the service was okay, just the time for the food wait was pretty long. The prices are so — so, but I wouldn’t spend it here, find elsewhere.
My rating for this place is a 1.5 stars.

****CASH ONLY**** (they have an ATM inside. not sure of fees)
El Chalateco has the typical pupusaria mash-​up of Salvadoran and Mexican items. Pupusas and Salvadoran Tamales are $ 2.25 (there’s a shrimp pupusa that’s more) which are what I ordered.
They start you out with some generic chips and decent salsa (
)
I said «I’ll have 2 pupusas. Loroco and Chicharrón con queso» which got translated to 2 loroco and 1 chicharrón (
). No biggie; I guess I’ll find out how well pupusas reheat.
The pupusas are large and have a lot of filling. You can see the loroco and cheese bursting out here (
). The chicharrón (in Salvadoran cuisine this is cooked and minced pork, not pork rinds) was really salty and greasy. The loroco one was much better, both in terms of flavor and greasy-​ness.
The usual curtido and thin red salsa are provided (
) Both were just lightly spicy and I liked the bites curtido with oregano for more flavor (which were few and far between).
The Tamale comes in a banana leaf (
) and consists of the masa plus chickpeas, potato wedge, and the pork (
).
The pork was tender and flavorful. I like the softer consistency of the masa in Salvadoran tamales compared to Mexican. The tamale was microwaved for several minutes (frozen?), but the center still wasn’t hot.
I’d order the loroco again and try some other items.

We stopped by to order some take out food. It wasn’t very difficult to find the place and when I went inside the restaurant, the staff was friendly to me. I asked if their take out menu was different than their larger dine in menu. They told me it was the same. I ended up ordering an Enchiladas Problanas and a Mega Quesadillas.
The place didn’t seem extremely busy, but it was a little wait to get my take out food. They asked me to pay after I received the food. It was cash only at this place with an ATM machine right next to the register. Once I got my food, I paid the cashier and went on my way.
When I got home, I opened up the take out box and was unpleasantly surprised how small my Mega Quesadillas was because it was about $ 8.50 for that dish. I finished up my food and my wife had the other dish. She ended up feeling pretty sick after she had hers.